Book Club Archives - Life with Dee

LWD Book Club ~ September 2018

September 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 4 Comments

Can you believe we are on the cusp of autumn? Where did my summer go?? September always feels like a new beginning to me. The start of a new season, back-to-school, and my birthday on August 27th…all of these together send my brain a signal that makes me evaluate my daily routines and get myself back in order. Two of our book club selections this month address the sort of changes I’m looking to within myself. And the third simply promises to be enjoyable. Let’s take a look at the September book club selections, shall we?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD SEPTEMBER BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

Whether readers want to get more sleep, stop checking their devices, maintain a healthy weight, or finish an important project, habits make change possible. Reading just a few chapters of Better Than Beforewill make readers eager to start work on their own habits—even before they’ve finished the book.

10% Happier by Dan Harris

After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the ranks of a hypercompetitive business, but had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.

Finally, Harris stumbled upon an effective way to rein in that voice, something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation, a tool that research suggests can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain. 10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel by Mary Ann Shaffer

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. . . .

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

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LWD Book Club ~ August 2018

August 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 4 Comments

A new month means new books! I’m pretty excited about the August book club selections. There is a marvelous independent book store in Oklahoma City called Commonplace Books. A few weeks ago, after dropping David off at the airport I made a little visit. This is the sort of place where the books are carefully curated and there is a resident dog.

I could easily spend a whole afternoon and a ridiculous amount of money there but my time was limited and I promised myself before I went in that I would only buy three books. These are the books I selected. Enjoy!

(*Note: The bookstore is temporarily closed for repairs after someone drove right through the front of it. Fortunately no one was hurt.)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD AUGUST BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl

The Art of the Wasted Day is a picaresque travelogue of leisure written from a lifelong enchantment with solitude. Patricia Hampl visits the homes of historic exemplars of ease who made repose a goal, even an art form. She begins with two celebrated eighteenth-century Irish ladies who ran off to live a life of “retirement” in rural Wales. Her search then leads to Moravia to consider the monk-geneticist, Gregor Mendel, and finally to Bordeaux for Michel Montaigne–the hero of this book–who retreated from court life to sit in his chateau tower and write about whatever passed through his mind, thus inventing the personal essay.

The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Laing

In The Trip to Echo Spring, Olivia Laing takes a journey across America, examining the links between creativity and alcohol in the work and lives of six extraordinary men: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, John Berryman, John Cheever, and Raymond Carver. Captivating and highly original, The Trip to Echo Spring strips away the myth of the alcoholic writer to reveal the terrible price creativity can exert.

Love and Ruin: A Novel by Paula McLain

In 1937, twenty-eight-year-old Martha Gellhorn travels alone to Madrid to report on the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and becomes drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught in the devastating conflict. It’s her chance to prove herself a worthy journalist in a field dominated by men. There she also finds herself unexpectedly—and unwillingly—falling in love with Hemingway, a man on his way to becoming a legend.

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

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LWD Book Club ~ July 2018

July 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 4 Comments

It’s July and that means it’s time for new book club selections. We will be celebrating our second annual Francophile Week this month so it only seems fitting to look to France for this month’s book inspirations.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD JULY BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

L’Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home

When David Lebovitz began the project of updating his apartment in his adopted home city, he never imagined he would encounter so much inexplicable red tape while contending with the inconsistent European work ethic and hours. Lebovitz maintains his distinctive sense of humor with the help of his partner Romain, peppering this renovation story with recipes from his Paris kitchen. In the midst of it all, he reveals the adventure that accompanies carving out a place for yourself in a foreign country—under baffling conditions—while never losing sight of the magic that inspired him to move to the City of Light many years ago, and to truly make his home there.

Ooh La La!: French Women’s Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day

French women are not born more attractive than anyone else. They simply learn at a very young age how to feel beautiful, confident, and sexy, inside and out. It’s an allure that outlasts youth–in fact, some of France’s most celebrated women are femmes d’un certain âge. Experience only makes them more irresistible. Growing up, Jamie Cat Callan had a French grand-mère to instruct her on style, grooming, and genuinely liking her reflection in the mirror. Now she shares that wisdom along with advice from other French women on fragrance, image consulting, makeup, and more.

Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic: Lessons in Everyday Elegance

Just step out your door today and you will notice that poise is a rarity in our wired, fast-paced, and unmannerly world. As uncivil behaviors like flip-flops at Broadway shows and digital oversharing proliferate, this timely book reminds us of the quiet power of behaving with dignity, kindness, and grace. Jennifer Scott’s Parisian mentor, Madame Chic, embodied poise, and not just with the good posture, stylish attire, and natural manners that made her extraordinarily elegant. She also demonstrated steady assuredness and graceful calm in everything she did—from interacting with her family and receiving guests at home to presenting herself in public. Jennifer L. Scott passes on the lessons she learned as well as some of her own hard-won wisdom, addressing topics such as proper attire at social events, good grooming, communication skills, hospitality and being a good guest, our interactions with neighbors and strangers, role models, self-discipline, and self-image.

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

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LWD Book Club ~ June 2018

June 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 6 Comments

Summer officially arrives this month and with it, dreams of lazy afternoons totally absorbed in a good book. I’ve purposely selected somewhat lighter reading for the June book club, including a “beach read” I’m really looking forward to. No, I don’t have plans to go to a real beach this month but I’m going to make do with a lounge chair and inflatable pool in the backyard.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD JUNE BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World’s Happiest People

In The Little Book of Lykke, Meik identifies the six factors that explain the majority of differences in happiness across the world—togetherness, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness—and explores what actions we can take to become happier. As he reveals, we can deepen our blissfulness and contentment with little adjustments in our behavior, whether it’s eating like the French (sitting around a table and savoring our time) or dancing the tango like Argentinians in Buenos Aires.

Choosing the Simply Luxurious Life

How can you have a rich and fulfilling life? The choices you make, not your income or financial assets, are the most powerful determining factor for your quality of life. Women have never had so many options. Yet we often experience a kind of paralysis, an unconscious willingness to follow societal dictates rather than become the CEOs of our own lives. When we mindlessly follow the dots, we smother our innate gifts and miss opportunities to fulfill our true potential. There is another way—choosing to live a simply luxurious life. This book will show you how to invest your time and what to eliminate from your life.

The High Tide Club

When ninety-nine-year-old heiress Josephine Bettendorf Warrick summons Brooke Trappnell to Talisa Island, her 20,000 acre remote barrier island home, Brooke is puzzled. Everybody in the South has heard about the eccentric millionaire mistress of Talisa, but Brooke has never met her. Josephine’s cryptic note says she wants to discuss an important legal matter with Brooke, who is an attorney, but Brooke knows that Mrs. Warrick has long been a client of a prestigious Atlanta law firm. Over a few meetings, the ailing Josephine spins a tale of old friendships, secrets, betrayal and a long-unsolved murder. She tells Brooke she is hiring her for two reasons: to protect her island and legacy from those who would despoil her land, and secondly, to help her make amends with the heirs of the long dead women who were her closest friends, the girls of The High Tide Club—so named because of their youthful skinny dipping escapades—Millie, Ruth and Varina. When Josephine dies with her secrets intact, Brooke is charged with contacting Josephine’s friends’ descendants and bringing them together on Talisa for a reunion of women who’ve actually never met.

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

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LWD Book Club ~ May 2018

May 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 8 Comments

Can it truly be May already? I just noticed I still have Santa mugs on a display shelf in my kitchen. Please tell me I’m not the only one who *thinks* I have all the holiday decorations put away, only to find a few stragglers weeks (months?) later. But yes, according to the calendar page I just turned over this morning, it is May. And that means it’s time for the May edition of the LWD Book Club. Let’s see what’s up for this month!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD MAY BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

Death at the Chateau Bremont by M. L. Longworth

I listened to a podcast the other day with the author of this book. She has a brand new book out but I want to start with the first in the series.

The first installment in the beloved, sumptuous mystery series set in Provence, featuring chief magistrate Antoine Verlaque and his old flame Marine Bonnet, who must team up to solve a pair of murders

When local nobleman Étienne de Bremont falls to his death from the family château, it sets the historic town of Aix-en-Provence abuzz with rumors. Antoine Verlaque, the charming chief magistrate of Aix, suspects foul play, and when he discovers that Bremont had been a close friend of Marine Bonnet, his on-again off-again girlfriend, Verlaque must turn to her for help.

The once idyllic town suddenly seems filled with people who scould have benefited from Bremont’s death—including his playboy brother François, who’s heavily in debt and mixed up with some unsavory characters. But just as Verlaque and Bonnet are narrowing down their list of suspects, another death occurs. And this time, there can be no doubt—it’s murder.

A lively mystery steeped in the enticing atmosphere of the south of France and seasoned with romance as rich as the French cuisine that inspires it, this first installment in the acclaimed Verlaque & Bonnet Provençal Mystery series is as addictive and captivating as Provence itself.

If you’d like to check out the podcast here is the link:

203: M.L. Longworth’s New Provençal Mystery and Life in Provence

The Fringe Hours: Making Time For You by Jessica N. Turner

Every woman has had this experience: you get to the end of the day and realize you did nothing for you. And if you go days, weeks, or even months in this cycle, you begin to feel like you have lost a bit of yourself.

While life is busy with a litany of must-dos–work, parenting, keeping house, grocery shopping, laundry and on and on–women do not have to push their own needs aside. Yet this is often what happens. There’s just no time, right? Wrong.

In this practical and liberating book, Jessica Turner empowers women to take back pockets of time they already have in their day in order to practice self-care and do the things they love. Turner uses her own experiences and those of women across the country to teach readers how to balance their many responsibilities while still taking time to invest in themselves. She also addresses barriers to this lifestyle, such as comparison and guilt, and demonstrates how eliminating these feelings and making changes to one’s schedule will make the reader a better wife, mother, and friend.

Perfect for any woman who is doing everything for everyone–except herself–The Fringe Hours is ideal for both individuals and small group use.

Home Sweet Maison: The French Art of Making a Home by Danielle Postel-Vinay

French Women Don’t Get Fat meets The Little Book of Hygge in this lively, sophisticated, and practical illustrated lifestyle guide that shows how to enjoy la belle vie—to live like the French every day—transforming your house into a home defined by beauty, family, and accessible elegance.

How do the French create the elusive and alluring sanctuaries they call home? This question long intrigued Danielle Postel-Vinay. Thanks to a chance encounter with a French expat in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and years of immersive research, she embarked on a quest to discover the secrets of the French home aesthetic.

Experiencing first-hand la belle vie—the beautiful life—Postel-Vinay now shows everyone how to create their own French sanctuary, a home sweet maison, no matter where they live. Providing more than just interior decorating and design tips, Postel-Vinay teaches you how to foster the warmth, beauty, and rituals inherent in the French home and create an environment better suited to living a rich, full, connected life. At the center of the book is the idea that your house should be a reflection of you, your hobbies, your family history, your rituals, all the things that make your life unique. A happy home is a home that expresses your rituals and your taste, not one that relies on prefab décor from a mass retailer.

Home Sweet Maison takes a room-by-room approach to show how the French view:

The Aesthetic: why the objects in your home matter, why minimalism is overrated, and why the French always choose the perfect décor for their salons

The Practical: how to use mise-en-place, or the French art of organization, in your kitchen, and how to find the right stain-removing potions to create your own French laundry

The Sensual: the way the French employ scent in their home as a personal signature

The Philosophical: the idea that every room in a French house has a specific purpose, and that the activity in one room should never bleed into the others

Home Sweet Maison encapsulates the very heart of the French way of seeing the world: set the table formally, adhere to all the conventions of ritual and tradition, then take pleasure in indulgence. It’s about using French concepts and routines to change our homes, our relationships, and our lives for the better.

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

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LWD Book Club ~ April 2018

April 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 3 Comments

Happy Easter and welcome to the LWD Book Club selections for April! I’m really looking forward to reading this month’s books and hope you will enjoy them, too.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD APRIL BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

Summer With the Country Vet

When Lucy Jacobs is made redundant from her inner-city teaching job she fears her career is over. Teaching is all Lucy knows and she’s determined to get back in the classroom as fast as she can.

Except the only job on offer is at an idyllic village school in the middle of nowhere – Lucy’s idea of hell. Where are the disadvantaged kids who need saving, where is the challenge?

But as Lucy finds herself welcomed into the warm-hearted community of Langtry Meadows, she begins to realise new challenges await – like frogs in the classroom, a rather difficult donkey, and a very brooding local vet…

Local boy Charlie Davenport has his own issues about living in the close-knit village of Langtry Meadows. His private life is already fuel for the well-meaning gossips and the very last thing he needs is to get close to the new school teacher…no matter how lovely she is.

But as summer days drift away Langtry Meadows weaves its magic, Charlie and Lucy both get the chance to turn over a new leaf and start anew…maybe with each other?

A fun, romantic story to make you smile and long for your own country escape.

A Piece of the World

To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family’s remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life. Instead, for more than twenty years, she was host and inspiration for the artist Andrew Wyeth, and became the subject of one of the best known American paintings of the twentieth century.

As she did in her beloved smash bestseller Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline interweaves fact and fiction in a powerful novel that illuminates a little-known part of America’s history. Bringing into focus the flesh-and-blood woman behind the portrait, she vividly imagines the life of a woman with a complicated relationship to her family and her past, and a special bond with one of our greatest modern artists.

Told in evocative and lucid prose, A Piece of the World is a story about the burdens and blessings of family history, and how artist and muse can come together to forge a new and timeless legacy.

Playing House in Provence

Author Mary-Lou Weisman and her husband, Larry, didn’t want to tour a foreign country; they wanted to become part of it. They were eager to pierce the tourist veil, and get as close to the essence of the culture as they could. No more observing from the outside with their noses pressed to the glass. They yearned for someone to open the door and invite them to step right in and make themselves at home. They wanted to become so French that even Americans wouldn’t like them.

In September of 2003, the Weismans arrived in Provence, France, for the first of four, monthlong stays. Playing House in Provence follows them on their sometimes wonderful, sometimes humiliating, always playful pursuit, as they learn that feeling disoriented and stupid on a daily basis can be fun. So can looking up French words they need to ask for directions—où est la pharmacie—only to realize there’s pas une chance they will understand the answer.

Watch for my review of Melissa Michaels’ new book, Simple Organizing: 50 Ways to Clear the Clutter. It is available for pre-order now and will be released April 3rd.

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

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LWD Book Club ~ March 2018

March 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 6 Comments

The LWD Book Club selections for March include fiction, memoir and self-help/how to. Something for everyone! Let’s see what we’ll be reading for the month of March:

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD MARCH BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line

In this urgent and unique book, chef Michael Gibney uses twenty-four hours to animate the intricate camaraderie and culinary choreography in an upscale New York restaurant kitchen. Here readers will find all the details, in rapid-fire succession, of what it takes to deliver an exceptional plate of food—the journey to excellence by way of exhaustion.

Several years ago I read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and absolutely loved it. I’m looking forward to another behind-the-scenes look at a restaurant kitchen.

Letters From Skye

A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.

In my post The Gift of a Letter, I shared links to several epistolary novels. I love these and am eager to read this one.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life

While the world seems to be in love with the idea of tiny houses and minimalism, many of us simply can’t purge it all and start from nothing. Yet a home with too much stuff is a home that is difficult to maintain, so where do we begin?

In my efforts to simplify my life this year, I’m decluttering and organizing my home. I love the “A Slob Comes Clean” podcast and was delighted to hear that she has a new book out. My copy arrived yesterday and I’ve already taken a peek.

Let me know if you plan to read any of these or if not, what you ARE reading this month.

What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? And when the tea is named “Reading Nook“? Perfection.

Plum Deluxe “Reading Nook” tea blend

PREVIOUS LWD BOOK CLUB CHOICES:

LWD Book Club ~ February 2018

February 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 2 Comments

I am really excited about this month’s LWD Book Club selections. As both a Francophile and an Anglophile, these three books scratch that itch. Let’s see what’s up for February.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

A Small House in France: How an English couple turned a neglected French cottage, an acre of land and a walnut orchard into a holiday retreat

The little cottage stood out against a bleak skyline, forlorn, empty, neglected and overgrown. After a three-year search, could it be just what a retired English couple were looking for as a holiday home of their own? A magical holiday to rural France some years before had sowed the seeds of a daring plan for Brenda and Ray Barrington – to spend the early years of their retirement buying and restoring a cottage in the French countryside for use as a maison secondaire. Their budget and time were limited, but their enthusiasm and determination were boundless. The couple soon found themselves deeply engrossed in their dream project and discovering the full ramifications of owning a rural property deep in the land of wine and haute cuisine.

This is right up my alley! I dream of doing something like this. All we need to do is win the lottery.

Diary of a Provincial Lady

E. M. Delafield’s largely autobiographical novel is written as the journal of an upper-middle class lady living in a Devonshire village. Full of the peculiarities of daily life, the Provincial Lady attempts to avoid disaster and prevent chaos from descending upon her household, including a husband reluctant to do anything but doze behind The Times, mischievous children and trying servants, all the while keeping up appearances to society-at-large, and most particularly to the patronising Lady Boxe, with whom the Provincial Lady is eternally competing.

I was looking for a novel set in wartime England and ran across “The Provincial Lady in Wartime”. I do plan to read that one but decided to start at the beginning of the series.

Parisian Charm School

From savoring the everyday beauty around you to engaging in captivating conversations, playing dress-up, hosting impromptu dinner parties under the stars, and of course mastering the art of French flirting, the lively and inspiring lessons in this “syllabus” will help you rediscover your beautiful, fierce, romantic, engaging best self—to attract the best of everything into your life.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this new book and decided to give it a go.

I hope you’ll join me in one or more of these books but in any case, I’d love to hear what you’re reading these days. And if you have any suggestions for future LWD Book Club selections, please let me know!

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LWD Book Club ~ January 2018

January 1, 2018 By Deanna Piercy 2 Comments

Not only is it the beginning of a new month…it’s the beginning of a new year! My word for 2018 is “simplicity” and you’ll likely see that theme reflected in a number of this year’s book club selections. Two of the three books this month relate to the concept of simple living. I hope you enjoy them!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read more here.

LWD January Book Club Selections

Walden – Henry David Thoreau

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection.

I’ve read this several times but it’s been many years since the last reading. I think it’s time to revisit Walden Pond.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…”

“Walden” is available free on Kindle and your public library is sure to have it. Years ago I found a lovely, vintage, hardcover edition at our local used book store for just a few dollars.

Sweetie by Kathryn Magendie

For shy, stuttering Melissa, the wild mountain girl named Sweetie is a symbol of pride and strength. But to many in their Appalachian town Sweetie is an outcast, a sinister influence, or worse. This poignant and haunting story takes readers deep inside the bittersweet heart of childhood loyalties.

For this month’s fiction selection I browsed through my Kindle library. I have LOTS of books on there which I have yet to read. Since January is my annual “no buy” month, it only made sense to choose something I already own.

The Simple Home by Rhonda Hetzel

Award-winning blogger Rhonda Hetzel shares the day-to-day practicalities of a simple life and shows you how to rediscover the heart of your home. With a year of monthly projects that make household management easier, Rhonda encourages you to set up good systems, make what you need, and appreciate what you have. Learn how to stretch money further, safely clean your home, and cook from scratch with 40 favorite recipes, including step-by-step guides to baking bread and making cheese. Whether you’re part of a family, living alone, or thinking about retirement, this is an inspiring, indispensable guide to slowing down, taking stock of your life, and finding pleasure and satisfaction at home.

I read this author’s short book, The Simple Life, earlier this year. It was only 41 pages and when I finished, I wanted more. The Simple Home came out in November and has a five-star rating on Amazon. I can’t wait to start this one!

I hope you’ll join me in one or more of these books but in any case, I’d love to hear what you’re reading these days. And if you have any suggestions for future LWD Book Club selections, please let me know!

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LWD Book Club ~ December 2017

December 1, 2017 By Deanna Piercy 5 Comments

December already? How did that happen? Not only is it time to really get the holiday season in full gear, it’s also time for the final LWD book club selections of the year. This is a busy time of year but it’s still important to set aside time for self-care. One of my favorite self-care activities is reading. Even twenty minutes with a good book can refresh my spirits. Let’s take a look at the LWD December book club selections.

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LWD DECEMBER BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS

Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon

Many years ago, back when I was a hospice nurse and on the road quite a bit each day, I became a fan of audiobooks. Listening to a good book helped pass the time in the car. That is when I first discovered the Mitford series books by Jan Karon. I immediately was taken with the quirky characters and the charming mountain village of Mitford.

I have read the original Mitford series books but somehow never read “Shepherds Abiding”. I think this is the perfect time to do so. Also, I ended up with two copies so I plan to do a book giveaway here on the blog soon!

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Before we know it, a new year will be upon us. January is always a good time to take a look at our habits and make some adjustments. I did a bit of research on habit books and selected “The Power of Habit” to read this month. If you have a favorite book about developing habits, please leave me a comment. I plan to read at least a couple of books on this topic.

Belize: A Novel by Carlos Ledson Miller

Our final selection is a self-published book set in Belize. Before our recent trip, I decided to look for a book set in Belize to read while visiting the country. This one had very good reviews so I downloaded it to my Kindle. There are a handful of editing errors but not enough to seriously detract from the story which is quite good. I’ve always enjoyed learning about new places through novels and if you want to know a bit about Belize I think you’ll enjoy this one as much as I did.

As always, I would love to have you join me in reading one or more of these selections if they are of interest. But in any case, I’m always interested in hearing what YOU are reading. Leave me a comment!